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Night of the Living Child
Introduction Everyone dies, it is a simple fact. And on the continent of Ossuria, death is not only a certainty, but an ever present being, ferrying souls to the afterlife. Normally Death operates in her own mysterious ways, but once every century or so, even Death herself cannot keep up with the work load. The legends tell the tale of this night, which shares a name in almost every universe, called Samhain. On this night the dead rise, blood is drunk, monsters crawl out from their hiding places, and the living do everything they can to survive. Your time in Kursk has been fairly innocuous thus far. You went shopping, got some new clothes, met up with Tavi, found yourselves an inn, and tomorrow will begin the process of searching out an airship to continue your journeys. Luck would have it however that tonight is special. Tonight is the Blood Moon Parade, a once a year festival in Kursk where the citizens come out and celebrate the macabre, praying all the while that it may not find them before they take their last sleep upon this mortal coil. Part of your day has been spent purchasing costuming for this evening, the expectation is that you mimic the creatures of the night in some way, though in a high brow classy fashion. Please, tell me how each of you have dressed yourselves. WAIT FOR RESPONSES And thus, suitably dressed, you make your way to the Strasse Helligtum, a circular ring road around the Halle Helligtum. A crowd has gathered, though the middle of the street remains clear for the coming parade floats. The King in Yellow Each of the floats are built upon large flat carts being drawn by two horses. # The first float is that of what at first glance appears to be a flowery garden. A variety of brightly coloured flowers adorn it, and there is a throne on the back of it in the shape of a large open flower. A young dark skinned woman sits upon it, dressed in a pearlescant dress, a matching face mask obscuring her identity, and a subdued tiara. On the side of the float hangs a banner, reading "The Queen of Beauty and Life". # The second float in contrast is simple, the plain wooden base of it exposed, with one of four stones placed at each corner and smaller stones scattered about its "floor". The stones are about 3 feet in diamond and in the shape of a simple pyramid with it's top cut off. The sides of them are etched in alien sigils, which glow faintly yellow. A rough stone throne sits in the middle of the float, upon which sits a humanoid figure covered almost entirely save his face in a vibrant yellow robe. His face is completely masked, a pale white mask with wide blank black eyes and an open gawking void of a mouth. Upon his head sits a tall gold crown with jagged points piercing toward the sky. On the side of the wooden base of the cart, written in what appears to be blood, are the words "The King in Yellow". # The third and last visible float is made of what looks like a miniature graveyard, dirt and moss covering its "floor". There are miniature headstones scattered about it and in the middle atop a stone dais sits a woman in dark black robes with an ivory face mask, blank of expression. On the side of this float in carved silver letters are the words "The Raven Queen". When the "King in Yellow" float is just about to pass by in front of you, suddenly the horses pulling it rear up, winnying loudly, and you watch at the peak of their upward motion the fur and skin on them flays outward, for a moment looking like the horses possessed wings, and then the horses fall, slumping forward to the ground, dead. The figure in the yellow robes stands, and you hear a voice in your head say "I have arrived, from the streets of Carcosa to your fair town, I have been invited. Your king stands before you, kneel to me." You watch as from his hands reach outward, tentacles pouring out from the robes replacing his hands, pointing to two points on the ground and a from the cracks in the street writhing tentacles worm their way upward, tearing open holes in reality. From these holes two creatures leap, one hulking and clawed, the other small and apish with a mouth of huge pointed teeth. Encounter * King in Yellow - Mind Flayer Arcanist * Star Spawn Mangler * Star Spawn Hulk As the King in Yellow is slain, he is revealed to just be a man in a mask, the writhing tentacles that had been spewing from his robes pull back into his robes, and disappear entirely. As the party stands in the now empty street, a childish voice rings out: "Oh good, you have beaten my the first part of my game, though I'm afraid you'll have to pick up the pace if you wish to save them." The voice is coming from a small alleyway on the opposite side of the street from the Halle Helligtum. A perception check DC15 reveals a small humanoid shape lurking in the shadows, formless save for a faint silohuette. A DC20 check reveals the shape to be a child of some form, though it is hard to make out more than that. The child is of course Dunbull, the Child. It is revealed this is only a projection, Dunbull is enacting a ritual in the Hall of the Imperator inside the Halle Helligtum. As part of the ritual, he has capture Tavertine, and is using her rare Genasi blood to kill the Raven Queen. Thankfully, the party is situated just outside the main doors to the Entrance Hall of the Halle, all they have to do it make their way forward and stop Dunbull. The Keymaster Opening the Entrance Hall doors, the party finds something very peculiar. Where they had expected a large reception hall of some kind, instead they find themselves inside a small run down bedroom. The floor is rough wooden planks, nailed down but bending upward roughly in places, revealing small cracks to a dark space below. The walls as well rough wooden planks, with no windows. The rough is blood, which is bubbling softly, upside down on the ceiling. Every so often a drop falls from it, leaving small red puddles on the floor. Entering, they find the door they had stepped through has vanished, leaving only a blank wall. Across the way is a simple wooden door, with a shiny ornate silver handle with a small keyhole in its center. On the door glows a series of numbers, traced in silvery white ghostfire: "5612469 2 23015". There are a few objects around the room, a run down bed, a simple wooden treasure chest at its foot, a night stand next to the bed, and a broom in one corner, a writing desk with a carved statue of a green dragon. There are drawers, a few pieces of paper sticking out of them. A simple chair sits in front of the desk. A figure floats serenely in the corner opposite the broom grinning. He is naked, though possesses no genitalia, his skin pale and gaunt, appearing to have been pulled over his frame rather than sitting naturally. He is lanky, with crooked joints and long yellow finger nails. His eyes are blank white, his teeth filed to points with rough slowly bleeding gums. He licks away the drops of blood every so often, his tongue long and slender. He speaks "I am the second test, we must ensure only the worthy face the challenge. Speak the password and the door will open, it is a simple test, though not without its challenges." * Bed - there are stains on the rough sheets, they appear to be red-ish brown centered primarily around the lower half of the bed. The Kaymaster speaks upon interacting or inspecting the bed "The bed, where she gave birth." * Treasure Chest - Inside the chest is a variety of items, frog skeletons, small patches of human flesh, and bone dice. Upon opening it the Keymaster speaks "The treasures. My collection. Please make sure they remain within my treasure chest, for they are a gift to the Child when he gets older." Digging through the items yields numbers written in blood at the bottom: "6151 8956". *Night Stand - Inside the single drawer of the night stand is a folded white gown, stained in blood. The Keymaster speaks: "The gown she wore that very night, a pity she can wear it no longer." *Broom - A rough handled wooden broom with thick straw bristles. The Keymaster speaks: "The broom, I washed the floor with it, though I could not get it all." On the handle is carved numbers "013". *Desk - Roughly carved from scrap wood, the desk of a poor person. The letters inside are gibberish, letters and number illegible to the mind, they seem to be shifting as you try to read them. The Keymaster speaks: "The desk, from here I told the world of that glorious day." *Green Dragon - A finely carved statue of a jade green dragon, its head roaring upward. The Keymaster speaks: "The statue, given to me for luck that night." On the bottom of the statue are carved numbers: "412 7142". Rules of the Code: The code is simple. It is a one-to-one mapping of letters to numbers of the objects on which they are inscribed. However, only the consonants actually map to a number and the vowels are just there for filler. See the words and their corresponding letters below for the example Clues to build the Code: * Broom ** Brm ** 013 * Green Dragon ** Grn Drgn ** 412 7142 * Treasure Chest ** Trsr Chst ** 6151 8956 Answer: * 5612469 2 23015 * Strngth n nmbrs * ‘Strength In Numbers’ Upon speaking the phrase, the silver lock clicks, the handle turning of its own accord. The figure's wicked grin widens, a glimmer of true happiness in the madness. The blood from the ceiling begins to lower, filling the room with blood and darkness. Alternate Solution Killing the Keymaster will also open the door, however each player suffers psychic damage equal to half of their life total. The Original Dunbull You find yourselves on the floor, still soaked with blood. The room you are in appears to be a large stone room, with two pillars in its center. Near you are massive heavy wooden double doors, currently closed. On the far end of the room stands a massive stone throne, far too large for any human to sit in. Looking around you see... decorations. There are roughly carved jackolanters near the edges of the floor, providing dim light to the room. Cotton cob webs are strewn in random places, complete with fake spiders. From the ceiling above the throne hang three large cloth sheet ghosts, dangling from strings. A mundane looking human child sits on the edge of the throne's seat, his feet kicking lazily as he hums to himself. There is a glowing blue spell circle at the foot of the throne, a small humanoid shape slumped inside of it. Seeing you appear, the Child says "You made it! I was ever so worried that father wouldn't let you pass!". LET THE PLAYERS INTERACT WITH THE CHILD, AT AN APPROPRIATE TIME HAVE HIM BEGIN THE RITUAL. The Child jumps down from the throne, into the ritual circle. The runes and sigils glow shifts to a violent bright red, a wall of energy springing up around its perimeter. Five small red beads of energy appear floating around the spell circle before darting off to various points in the room. The three creatures that were previously hanging inside the sheet ghosts drop, revealing zombified forms of an Aboleth, Beholder, and a half-Orc clothed in rough furs wielding a gnarl staff. Their flesh is slopping off in places, their eyes glowing red as they peer at you menacingly. ROLL FOR INITIATIVE. Monster Stats * Zombie Beholder * Aboleth * Archdruid (Maladir) Note: at the end of each round, 1/5 of Tavertine's form will turn skeletal. When all of Tavertine is Skeletal, the Child completes the ritual, the Raven Queen's form being trapped in Tavertine's body, which the Child will destroy, having won. Fear Beads Only one bead can be interacted with per player, after completing a challenge, their hand simply passes through any bead they touch. * Brinarei - You find yourself underwater, in utter darkness, only your darkvision letting you see even the vaguest form of the large room you are in. You have only enough breath for a few sentences, at most. You see the words "It was a graveyard smash", burning in silvery light in the water before you. (sing the Monster Mash chorus, take 3d6 drowning damage on a failure) ** They did the mash, they did the monster mash, The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash, They did the mash, it caught on in a flash, They did the mash, they did the monster mash * Widders - You are in a large circular stone room of some kind, the ceiling open to the stormy night sky. A metal apparatus takes up much of the upper part of the room, an arm from it extending toward the storm. In slow motion you see a bolt of lightning slowly tracing its way toward the metal arm of the apparatus. A green-skinned humanoid monster lies on a metal table before you. Immediately before you is a large metal lever, rusted in places. You see the words "It's ALIVE!" burning in silvery light in front of you (DC15 Str check to push the lever, take 2d6 lightning damage on a failure). * Tavi - You find yourself... in the same room, the throne on one end, monsters about, your friends, etc. You try to speak but find you have no voice. You see burning silvery words in front of you: "Klatoo, Verata, Nikto". (Get someone else to say those words) * Ash - You find yourself seated at a table in a run down shack, in one corner a black iron cauldron is filled with a slowly bubbling green ooze. A crooked crone of a hag is with a pointy black hat is seated across from you cackling wildly, shuffling a deck of cards. Burning in silvery light, the words "Choose your fate" appear in front of you. The crone places the deck of cards on the table in front of you. (Draw from the Deck of Many Things, failure to do so results in 3d6 Psychic damage). * Nat - You find yourself standing in front of the door of a modest house. An elderly woman, extremely grandmotherly, is standing in the doorway cooing about how "adorable you are in your little outfit". She is holding out a piece of candy wrapped in a purple foil wrapper, waiting for you to take it. He other arm is reaching out to pinch your cheek. You see silvery burning words saying "Trick, or Treat?" hanging in the air before you. (Take the candy and eat it, roll on Purple Lotus Table, or take 3d6 points of pinching damage) *Ardeth - You are suddenly in the hallway of a nice mansion. A man dressed in simple clothing wearing some kind of white mask with odd holes in the cheek area is stomping down the hallway toward you, wielding a large bloody machete. You duck through a door into a room of dusty old furniture covered by sheets. You see silver white burning letters in the air before you which say "Hide, for he seeks." (DC15 Stealth check, or take 3d6 Slashing damage) *Layla - You find yourself in the middle of a busy market, people moving to and fro. However, a couple of things are wrong with this scene. For one thing the sky is a miasma of bright purple clouds laced with green streaks, for another your perspective on this is much lower to the ground than it should be. Looking at your hands you see only a white feather appendage, that is when it hits you: you are a chicken. You see burning silvery words in the air before you: "You have no mouth and yet must cluck" (DC15 Cha saving throw, or take 3d6 psychic damage) Each fear bead success summons weakens the barrier around the spell circle, completing all 5 will destroy the circle allow the Child to be attacked. Success As the Child dies, its mouth opens, a stream of ghostly apparitions pouring forth, each whizzing through the air before passing through a wall. Finally the torrent of souls ceases, and the body of the Child lays on the ground. You hear one final gasp of dying breath which says "see you next year my friends". You awake with a start in your beds, sweat covering your body, but you are relieved to find it was nothing but a nightmare. Or was it? Failure Tavertine's form hovers within the spell circle, gaunt and skeletal. her eyes empty, literally, as her skull peers at each of you in turn. She speaks "this is only the beginning my friends, now we can all live FOREVER". Her form erupts in bright crimson flame, blood pouring forth from her mouth as she screams. The moment drags on, you fear it will never end, but then silence. All is still, but you notice one thing has changed. At the feet of Tavertine's skeletal form is a pale ivory mask, cracked and splattered with blood, on top of a black dress adorned with raven feathers. Somewhere outside you hear an unearthly howl, you have no idea what it is, but it sounds like it's only beginning to wake up...